<p>I've lived in a small town in Indiana my whole life, my parents have always put pressure on me to attend Notre Dame. I love Notre Dame, but I feel like I would be missing out if I stayed so close to home and never really getting a chance to see what is out there. I like Fordham and am really interested in possibly attending but I'm not sure if I can make it in NY, I don't know if I can adjust well in a big city. Do kids from small towns adjust well in big cities? I posted this on the Fordham forum and some suggested I should post it here. So maybe some of you parents who have had a similar experience can help me out?<br>
Thanks in advance :)</p>
<p>I don't know if one can generalize about kids from small towns. I think it depends primarily on you. Have you been to any big cities? What did you think of them? How well do you adapt to change generally? How well do you tolerate changes or disruptions in your regular routine? What interests you about Fordham?</p>
<p>I have a friend whose son goes to Fordham, and other friends who have visited the school with their kids. Everyone says that the campus is beautiful......but once you step off the campus, you are in a very, very harsh area of NYC. </p>
<p>My friend said the son has already had someone break into his dorm room and had stuff stolen. (not that that doesn't happen everywhere).</p>
<p>My son had friends that slept over at Fordham a few years back as part of a debate team. They all slept in some big room area, and some of them had items stolen while they slept.</p>
<p>I don't want to scare you off, but did you visit Fordham? If not, I would suggest you take a look. My friends and I were born and raised in the greater NY area, and when someone says that the area around Fordham is quesitonable, well, you have to realize that is coming from the mouth of a New Yorker.</p>
<p>I am not personally putting Fordham or the area down (as I never have actually seen the campus), but if you live in a small town, you would really be jumping from the frying pan into an inferno.</p>
<p>My son is from a very small town and is now in college in a big city. Loves it. Using ADads questions, he had been to lots of big cities: London, NY, Boston, etc. while travelling. Knew he liked the city. Adapts well to change...went to a school with a great program in his major.
Going to college is already a big change, you should consider carefully whether you want to make that change along with such a different living environment as a city.
I know that when I travel for instance, I love being in any city: Boston, San Francisco, etc. but I also know I love LIVING in my own small town. When I travel to Los Angeles by car, I always feel elated when I get out of there and I can see the mountains surrounding the beautiful valley where I live.</p>
<p>Fordham has one campus at Rose Hill, in the Bronx, which can be unsafe even in the daytime. Their other campus is at the Lincoln Center, and in an excellent part of NYC. You would really have to love concrete, and a big bustling city to have a positive experience in New York. Kids love it or hate it.</p>
<p>You probably do know that Notre Dame is an excellent school. If you expect to be accepted by ND you would probably qualify for merit scholarships at Fordham.</p>
<p>I'm from NYC, but never visited Fordham until my daughter was looking at colleges. I was impressed with the Fordham Rose Hill campus -- it is gated, with guards at all the gates checking IDs, and inside it is very green and quiet. It doesn't seem very urban at all. There are two ways to get into NYC -- taking the subway requires walking a few blocks, but taking one of the commuter trains means taking about five steps from the Fordham gate to the train station. It looked very safe. Plus, I believe Fordham has buses that travel between the Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses.</p>
<p>This area of the Bronx isn't that bad. Fordham is adjacent to the Botanical Gardens and very close to the Bronx Zoo. Arthur Ave. is a wonderful Italian neighborhood within walking distance. I took the subway from Manhattan, and I saw a Gap between the train station and Fordham -- at least in daylight hours, I felt safe walking there.</p>
<p>Notre Dame certainly has a better national reputation than Fordham. However, Fordham has a good reputation in NYC, and the internships would be wonderful. Fordham would certainly be easier to get into (although its aps are up considerably this year and it has become more selective).</p>
<p>Can you adjust to a big city? There are many people from rural towns and small cities who do just fine in big cities, and grow to love them, and others who discover they hate them. I've known both types, and I can't think of what distinguished one from the other. </p>
<p>When my daughter was looking at colleges, her instinct told her "city," but she did look at rural schools and sometimes grew tempted. I told her I didn't want her to graduate after four years and feel disappointed. She knew that if she went to a school in a place that was too much like her small town, she would always wonder "what if." In the end, she only applied to schools in urban areas. But she's got friends who are very happy to leave their small town and go to school someplace just like it.</p>
<p>My take is slightly different:</p>
<p>New York City is stuffed to the gills with people who grew up in small towns and felt like they were finally "home" when they got off the train/bus/plane in New York. It isn't for everyone, but lots and lots of people -- millions, actually -- would feel deprived if they had to live anywhere else. It's the center of the world. There isn't anywhere with more exciting people and more exciting stuff going on, and it's all pretty accessible with a minimum of effort.</p>
<p>That said, for a college student there are some real minuses to go with the plusses. Even though it's possible to do NYC on a budget, there's no question that all those opportunities cost money. Not only do they cost more in NYC than in South Bend, there are so many more things to do that you will really feel the loss if you can't do them, while someplace else you might not notice anything was missing. And the myriad attractions of the city make it next to impossible to have the kind of campus life that every other college gets effortlessly. Even if your classmates aren't going home on nights and weekends -- and I think Fordham is something of a suitcase/communter school -- they will be going in 100 different directions, all of them "away". If you don't have the same amount of money, or if you don't happen to find the perfect compadres, it can feel very lonely.</p>
<p>For me, the perfect time to experience NYC is when you are in your 20s and have a decent job. College can be great, too, no question, but of the kids I know in school in NYC, these issues weigh on all but the wealthiest of them. Note, however, that I say "weigh", not "make them miserable." Sometimes they are miserable (but that's true of kids everywhere to some extent); other times they are out-of-their-minds excited about where they are in school.</p>
<p>You have a lot of good posts already. I just wanted to ask whether you've looked at Boston College. I think the BC area may be easier to handle than the area in NYC where Fordham is.</p>
<p>Thanks for the good posts! Corranged I have looked at BC but I'm not so sure if I can get in, but I guess if I get into ND then I have a good shot at BC(right?). I haven't visited Fordham but I will do so as soon as summer rolls around. I want to see what you guys are talking about. And to answer ADdads, I live about 2.5 hours from Chicago and hate it. I really don't like Chicago, not even the Northwestern area. I don't know what that says about me and big cities.....</p>
<p>What do you hate about Chicago?</p>
<p>If you are looking for a Catholic School in a major city:
Villanova or St Joe's or Cabrini in Philly;
Duquesne in Pittsburgh;
Catholic or Trinity in DC;
Marymount in Arlington (DC);
Loyola in New Orleans;
St Louis in St Louis</p>
<p>Isabella, Are there other colleges that you are looking at besides Fordham and Notre Dame? There are many urban colleges out there. Here's a link to some in Philadelphia. <a href="http://www.onebigcampus.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.onebigcampus.com/</a> Some colleges, like Villanova, are not in the city but have public transportation that make it easy to visit.</p>
<p>Is there any way that you can visit Fordham during the school year? It's difficult to get a feel for a college without the students on campus. My son thought that he might like an urban campus but changed his mind after visiting one.</p>
<p>I wish I could kathiep, but I have much to do in the few months left this year, maybe I could fit it in during spring break. Thanks mominva, I'm looking at Villanova, I've head some great things about them. ADads, I hate Chicago because the people I met there were mean- I know a couple people shouldn't speak for the entire city (and I sure there are some nice people in Chicago) but in my case that was all it took.</p>
<p>haha, Isabella, sorry you met the rare mean person in the mid-west, and in Chicago that too. Better be prepared for New York!!! (And I go there a LOT!! )
There are plenty of nasties everywhere, though I feel as a north-eastener, there are more here.</p>
<p>Yes, Isabella, I read that and thought "That girl is not going to love New York."</p>
<p>Fordham RoseHill Campus is covered by the 48th precint.</p>
<p>These are the crime stats for the precint. Yes, bad things are happening in the 48. </p>
<p>Fordham Lincoln Center campus is covered by the 20th precint.</p>
<p>These are the crime stats for the 2-0. Yes, bad things happening here too. (less than 48)</p>
<p>I would consider St Johns University in Fresh Meadows, Queens. Fresh Meadows is a bit safer, since its in Queens. </p>
<p>St Johns covered by 107. </p>
<p>Bottomline, common sense needs to be exercised in NYC. For example, dont walk through Central Park at night.</p>
<p>I have never been to Fordham but if you hate the area around Northwestern, and are turned off by a couple of "mean" people I think you should really think twice about going to school in an urban area, especially to a campus that may be surrounded by a dicey neighborhood. Evanston is really very nice and the Northwestern Campus is quite beautiful and fairly safe. Have you ever spent a weekend in a big city?</p>
<p>It was nothing against Northwestern, but I didn't like the campus (but after seeing Notre Dame what compares???) :) and I should have posted it earlier but some of the mean people were the kids I met at Northwestern. I was turned off by the things they said and really couldn't believe they assigned me that guide. Maybe I'm not cut out for the big cities but sooner or later I will have to learn to live in them, and will as soon as I can visit Fordham.</p>
<p>Isabella, What I don't understand is why you think you have to live in a big city. I'm all for experiencing different places and things but one doesn't have to actually live in a city to experience it. If you'd like some help coming up with some other alternatives to Notre Dame, you have come to the right place. We parents on this forum live and have kids at colleges all over the place and we love to give advice! If you tell us some general information about yourself and what you are looking for in a college we can come up with tons of suggestions.</p>
<p>Sorry I just read this, kathiep I want to go to school in a big city because I would like to major in international relations and political science, I'm not sure the oppertunities in South Bend would be equal to those in NYC. Its kind of scary for me to think about college because I haven't been exposed to many different cities. I appreciate the help that you parents offer because I cant really count on my parents for this type of advice. Anyways some general information about myself......
I'm Mexican-Greek, Catholic and I would love to go to a school with a Catholic affiliation. My GPA is 3.7 like 3.9 weighted my rank is 15/476
I write for my schools magazine, I'm the business manager and an editor. I play the violin this is my 9th year. I work after school, on weekends and any school break I have. I was a varsity cheeleader my freshman year, but I quit because I couldn't handle it. I participate in Key Club and SEA plus I tutor younger kids for free. Thanks again to all those who post-you have no idea how much I need the help.</p>